Lady Mustangs forced to settle for tie in soccer

MIDDLETOWN -- Hannah Diaz scored her third goal of the game with five minutes remaining to lift the Middletown Mustangs into a 3-3 tie with the Cloverdale Eagles on Thursday afternoon during a North Central League I varsity girls' soccer battle in Middletown.

It was the first time in 11 games this season Middletown (5-0-1, 10-0-1) hasn't come away with a victory.

"A game we played very poorly overall," a disappointed Middletown coach Lee Hoage said. "We had a lot of breakdowns on the field."

The Mustangs also were minus injured starters Taylor Montelli and Maddie Kucer, both of whom may miss Middletown's big home game Tuesday against the Clear Lake Cardinals (5-1, 10-5-1).

"We've got Clear Lake coming up and we need to rebound," Hoage said. "We need some adversity and now we're going to find out which way we go from here."

Middletown led 2-1 after one half on a pair of unassisted Diaz goals. Ashley Hart assisted on the Mustangs' final goal.

"Cloverdale was pretty relentless with their effort," Hoage said of the Eagles, who beat Clear Lake 4-0 earlier this month. "They created some problems for us and got behind us a couple of times."